Alone
by Michebellaxo
Summary: David comforts Regina during the Missing Year. Written for EC week, day four.


It was the last day in January, and Regina was sitting outside with a heavy fur cloak wrapped around her shoulders. It hardly kept out the cold, but she wasn't concerned about freezing. No, she was worried about the next day being yet another painful reminder that she was destined to never see Henry again. She would never see him, never be able to hear his sweet voice telling her he loved her, or good morning, or… _Happy Birthday_. And so she was sitting in the dark, freezing courtyard, her eyes scanning the blackness through the wetness in her eyes that she wouldn't let overpour.

Regina sighed at the sound of crunching rocks and dirt on the path behind her. Straightening her back, she turned her head to see who her intruder was. Raising an eyebrow - that he likely couldn't even see - she tilted her head up to look at him. "What are you doing out here?"

"I don't know what you expected," David answered softly, taking a seat beside her on the cold bench. He faced the castle, so they were facing opposite directions, figuring it would be easier for her to talk that way. "Snow knows what tomorrow is, though I'm not sure if you truly didn't expect her to remember, or if you simply didn't want her to."

With another sigh, Regina shook her head and looked down at her gloved hands in her lap. "I suppose I didn't think about it. You'll have to forgive me; my thoughts have been elsewhere."

David nodded, bringing his left hand to squeeze her bicep gently. "I'm not going to ask you to talk about it, or how you're feeling. That's why I came instead of Snow. We just don't want you to be alone."

"And just what do you think you're going to be able to do by just sitting here? Keep me from acting on my pain by hurting others? Prevent me from causing destruction?" she snapped, her dark eyes rolling, and she could just barely see the exasperated look on his face as he shook his head.

"No, Regina. We've all come a long way since you cast the curse. We know who you are, who you've spent much time getting back to. But eleven years of not having to be alone on this day, and then suddenly not having your son for it… I imagine that would be quite difficult. So I'm here to sit and do as you please - talk or not talk - until you're fine enough to be left alone."

Tightening her jaw, she pursed her lips and nodded, silently accepting his company. They sat there, neither of them saying anything for a long time, until David tired of the silence. He braced his hands on the cold, hard stone of the bench beneath them, and leaned back so he could see her face better. Turning his head slightly, he looked up at the sky and searched the stars. When he found the brightest in the sky, he pointed up.

"Do you see that bright star? The one that outshines the rest?" Regina looked up and found the star, nodding slightly and humming. "It's name is Sirius," David continued, watching her face. "It is supposedly twice the size of the sun."

"And you know this, how?"

"I watched the stars a lot as a boy, I would go out when I couldn't sleep and lay on our land, watching the sky. I did it often when I was waiting for my father to get home from one of his trips. Anyway, my love for it apparently extended to my Storybrooke persona, and I spent a lot of evenings doing the same when I was trying to figure things out with Kathryn, and then when I'd messed things up with Mary Margaret," he explained. "But then I started looking up what I was looking at. It's the one thing that is the same here as there. No matter where we are, the sky is the same. Perhaps that's why I find myself so fascinated with it."

Regina waited a long moment before turning to look at him again, this time without tears in her eyes, and with a lighter heart. It wasn't completely better, but she didn't feel nearly as weighed down by the sadness as she did before. The simple thought that Henry could be looking up at the same sky as she was - in a different realm or not - made her heart hurt just a little bit less.

"Thank you, David," she whispered.

"You're welcome." There was such pain and sadness still in her eyes, that David couldn't help it when he brought his left hand up, his finger hooking under her chin and keeping her eyes level with his. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers softly, barely using any pressure at all, just enough to feel it. Pulling back, he looked into her eyes again, then leaned forward once more, his lips pressing softly between hers, her upper lip caught between both of his, and he held it for a minute.

When he pulled away, he opened his blue eyes and watched her brow furrow in confusion. "Wh-what was that?"

Shrugging, David smiled and released his hold on her chin. "Everybody deserves a kiss on their birthday."

"I-I…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll leave you alone now."

"Thank you, David."

"Anytime." He stood, walking just a few feet away before he turned around again. "Happy Birthday, Regina. Just… remember you're not alone." He turned away again, unable to see the soft smile on her lips and a few tears sliding down her cheeks.


End file.
